If you are planning an operation in a hospital in July you should be forewarned that it is dangerous.  In fact hospitals are more dangerous in July than any other month of the year!  Why - because new resident physicians start their training in July.  The seasoned and experienced doctors-in-training move on and the new crop of newly minted doctors take over.  Sound scary?  It is!

Mortality increases and efficiency decreases in hospitals because of year-end changeovers, although heterogeneity in the existing literature does not permit firm conclusions about the degree of risk posed, how changeover affects morbidity and safety, or whether particular models are more or less problematic.

In other words, and please forgive the scholarly language of the authors above, the "July Effect" is life and well - even though you might not be.Two major issues contribute to the increased mortality and morbidity. 

First of all, as the new physicians come on there is an obvious decrease in clinical know-how. Typically, residents work lousy hours.  The more seasoned attending physicians usually exit the hospital when the day is done and leave their patients in the care of residents - the new residents that is.  Obviously the attending physicians have put in their time and are senior tot he young new residents and obviously do not want to work the night shift.  Hold on you say - I am sure if there is a problem the new residents can get in touch with the attending physicians.  Maybe - maybe not.  This is the training environment for new physicians and it is a competitive environment.  The new resident finds himself or herself in a novel situation for which they have trained.  They decide that instead of calling their attending doctor (who later in the year evaluates the resident) to treat the patient - maybe correctly - maybe not.

The second issue, is that these new resident physicians are thrust into an environment that is new and alien to them.  They are in a hospital that is new to them.  New protocols and ways of doing things.  They way orders are written is new and the reporting system is new.  Inevitably mistakes are made.  That is the July Effect.

I was a nurse at the University of Utah for years before I became an attorney and can attest to the fact that the July Effect is live and well.  Compound these problems with the long hours that resident physicians work and you are asking for problems.

You can read more at The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and at The New York Times but be aware and maybe change the date of that elective procedure you were planning. 

We represent people and their families that are harmed as a result of medical malpractice across Utah including the counties and cities of Beaver, Box Elder, Cache, Carbon, Daggett, Davis, Duchesne, Emery, Garfield, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Morgan, Piute, Rich, Salt Lake, San Juan, Sanpete, Sevier, Summit, Tooele, Uintah, Utah, Wasatch, Washington, Wayne, Weber, American Fork, Beaver, Bountiful, Brigham City, Cedar City, Delta, Draper, Duchesne, Fillmore, Heber, Kamas, Kanab, Kaysville, Layton, Lehi, Logan, Moab, Murray, Nephi, Ogden, Orem, Park City, Price, Provo, Richfield, Riverton, Roy, Salt Lake City, Sandy, South Jordan, St. George, Tooele, Vernal, West Jordan, and West Valley City.

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